A Rose By Any Other Color
by Warlordess
Summary: Ash takes an age-old leaf out of Drew's book and heads to Cerulean Gym with a bouquet of roses... for Misty's Gyarados. Because who ELSE could they have been for, right? Pokeshipping. Three chapters. Now (finally) complete! Sorry for the wait!
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer** \- Of _course_ , I don't own anything! I'm just your average shipaholic klepto!

 **Author** \- Warlordess

 **Notes** \- I have been feeling _very_ uninspired to write lately… I've had less than zero ideas… but I came up with this one tonight while I was shutting down my department at my job… What if I took a well-known line/moment from another OTP and applied it to _this_ one? That being said, I'd love to thank the writers who made Drew such a butt because, without his stupid rose line, I wouldn't have felt this wave of inspiration I've so desperately been in need of!

(I hope nobody hurts me for stealing this moment and forcing it onto Ash and Misty!)

 **O** o **O** o **O**

 **Title** \- "A Rose By Any Other Color" / part one

 **Summary** \- … Would not have nearly the same effect on them. Either of them. What the heck has Ash gotten himself into? Pokeshipping!

 **O** o **O** o **O**

He can't explain it, but he's had to pump himself up quite a lot to come this far.

It's the first time in quite awhile that he's had enough free time to visit his friends around the Kanto region. Usually he has just long enough to stop at home for a couple of days, see how his mom is doing, celebrate with her over his latest placement in the League, visit Professor Oak's lab to check up on his Pokemon, and then research wherever he'll be wandering off to next.

But the unforeseen free time has given him an opportunity he hadn't previously had the chance to take advantage of.

"Oh, Ash? You're back already, huh? Sorry, I'm still cleaning the…" his redheaded friend, Misty, falters after taking into account his preoccupied hands. "Wait, what's _that_?" she asks him, earnestly curious of his intentions.

His nerves are set afire again, his unexplainable anxiety threatening to take complete hold over him. The whole thing was supposed to be real quick and simple… He couldn't understand why it seemed so awfully complicated and confusing!

"Oh, uh, _this_?" he replies innocently, holding up the bouquet he'd bought from a local floral vendor. "Yeah, sorry - I mean, uh, _here_ you go!" And he tosses them into her arms, causing her to drop the mop she'd been previously using to clean the arena floor.

"I - I'm - I mean, I don't…" she rambles on, face flushing furiously at this sudden event taking place between them. She'd known for a long time of course that Ash would someday (maybe, hopefully) come around and finally understand how he felt about her but she hadn't noticed the time had come to pass already. There had been no indicators since her best friend had first arrived the day before that he'd managed to bridge the gap of his own romantic unintelligence…

"Oh, wait! Right! I guess I should explain!"

"Yeah," the redhead says cautiously, "I _guess_ you should."

"Well, it's not a big deal. Those roses are for Gyarados."

"I… _what_?" she asks in blasphemy. Surely she's misheard him!

"They're for Gyarados! I meant to do this awhile ago but I never got the chance! I got the idea from one of May's… rivals? Yeah, I guess so. One of her rivals. Anyway, do you remember when you came to visit us in Hoenn and you got kidnapped by Colonel Hansen from the Togepi Kingdom?"

" _Yeeeees…_ " she enunciates, just as vigilant towards his intentions as before… perhaps even more-so now that she is figuring him out, at the same time feeling her own hopes flutter away into next to nothing.

Well, it's better to have low expectations when Ash Ketchum is involved.

"I'd been thinking that, even though we helped you out at first, it was really Gyarados that came along and saved the day in the end, right?" the raven-haired trainer rambles, poising a finger as if stating the utmost truest fact in the world.

"I - I guess… But…"

Misty sighs, words strangled into silence as she stares between the bouquet of flush red roses and then back up to her best friend's face… back down to the roses, and then again up at his awkward smile and shining eyes. He looked so - so _proud_ of himself for coming up with this tactic of gratefulness!

"I'm sorry, Ash, but is this some sort of joke?" she braves her own fears enough to ask next.

" _Joke_? No! Why would you think something like that?!" he asks incredulously, angrily, frustratedly, and she thinks maybe she really _has_ read him wrong, even though her _too-good-to-be-true_ sense had started to go off.

"You're giving me flowers."

" _No_ , I'm giving _Gyarados_ flowers."

"And not just _any_ flowers, but _roses_ , of all things!"

"So what?" the raven-haired trainer yelps in reply to this, and Misty quirks a brow.

Right, right; remember those low expectations…

"Ash," she starts again, clearing her throat and venturing on into some unfamiliar territory, "You said that one of May's… _rivals_ … does this? Gives her flowers?"

"Gives her _Pokemon_ flowers," he corrects her pointedly.

"They do this regularly? Give her - um, her _Pokemon_ \- flowers?"

"Drew gives May a rose every time they meet! He always makes sure that she knows they're for her Beautifly or something though. I don't know why he thinks he needs to be so specific all the time. As if she doesn't know!"

 _Drew, huh_ …? The redhead wonders to herself distantly. She can't say that the name meant anything to her, though perhaps May _had_ mentioned him a couple of times before. But then the Cerulean gym trainer regains her senses, rejoins the present, and makes her bed.

"… That's complete _bull_!"

"… Huh?"

"I'm saying that Drew is _not_ giving May's Pokemon any number of red roses!"

"I - I don't…" Ash gulps, that odd anxiety flaring back up as his gut starts doing flip-flops around his ribcage. "What do you mean?"

"Ash, the red rose stands for respect!" she states as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Okay, _and_? Doesn't it make sense that'd he'd respect a Pokemon he's giving a gift to? Even if that Pokemon _does_ belong to his rival!"

"It also stands for _romantic love_. Are you telling me this Drew guy is in love with May's Beautifly too?"

"I, wait, h - hold on a second there!" he exclaims in utter terror. This couldn't be happening to him! He was just an innocent bystander in all of this, wasn't he?!

Ash pauses for an extra moment or two, doing his best to breathe deep and fight off the nerves and fear clawing up the back of his neck. He'd handled at least a dozen legendary Pokemon, life-threatening horrors, evil megalomaniacs hellbent on taking over or destroying just about _everything_ in existence… but this was completely different compared to any of that!

"M - Maybe Drew doesn't _know_ what red roses mean!" he cries, voice cracking and fading to nothing, and he feels his brain literally _begging_ for air but he refuses to give it. After all, if he manages to pass out, it _might_ be enough of a distraction for Misty to call off this pseudo-interrogation they've stumbled into.

"I'm telling you now, Ash, any guy who goes out of his way to carry an endless supply of red roses is _not_ just handing them out willy-nilly to his rival's _Pokemon_."

"But - I mean - _I did_. Sure, you're not my rival, and I guess one round dozen isn't really an _endless_ supply, but _I_ didn't know the meaning behind them and here I am, casually handing them over to you - I - I mean, to Gyarados! _Through you_!"

"I guess," the redhead scowls at his apparent need to clear up any possible misunderstanding about his intentions (as if she didn't already know them at this point), "I should have specified any _normal_ guy."

She sighs, taking in his despondent expression. He seems wounded, as if he's been pushed into a situation he would never have seen coming in a million years, and definitely something he wasn't ready for… which, she supposed, he clearly wasn't. She should have known. She really shouldn't have gotten her hopes up anyway… because now those hopes had come back to kick her in the butt.

"You should have _realized_ what Drew meant by giving May something as beautiful, pricey, and novel as a red rose, Mr. Pokemon Master!" She scoffs, turning up her nose and doing her best to hide her own hurt. "It's not like he's running around handing these out to _all_ of his rivals, right?"

Ash still doesn't say anything, makes no attempt to refute her claims or accusations, and she knows that she's made the right decision.

"Here, dummy," she says flatly, thrusting the bouquet once and for all back into her best friend's unprepared arms. "Gyarados doesn't need your thanks anyway; at least, not like this."

"B - but…"

"For goodness sake, Ash, he's a giant underwater dragon! What's he going to do with a bunch of roses anyway, right?" she asks him furiously, throwing her arms up in the air in annoyance. Yes, _just_ annoyance… and nothing else.

"R - right, I guess," and yet his expression doesn't change, at least not much, as he shuffles on his feet and awkwardly holds the bouquet in his hand.

"Can you stop looking like that, Mr. Pokemon Master? It's your _own_ fault for not reading between the lines! I always knew you were too immature to understand matters of the heart! I've been saying it for years, haven't I?" she asks wryly, though the bittersweet grin on her face seems to be enough to lighten the mood.

"Yeah…"

"But, come to think of it, there's one thing I still don't get," she notes almost absently, drawing a finger to her chin in thought.

"What's that?"

"Well, you said this Drew guy gave May's Pokemon a rose - that means one, _singular_ \- every time they happened to meet again… So I've gotta ask, why'd you go so far as to bring an entire bouquet?"

"To be honest, I just thought… Like I said, I'd been meaning to do this for a long time, you know? But still…"

"But still…?" she coaxes him into further explaining.

"I had thought… that, even if Gyarados only got one rose… that you're such a romantic that you'd probably keep the rest anyway."

"I wouldn't steal a gift intended for my Pokemon!" she exclaims furiously at this consideration.

"That's not what I meant!" he shouts back, now equally as perturbed as her, "I just - just meant that you _could_ if you wanted to!"

"Could _what_?!" she shrieks back, fists clenched in fury.

"Keep them! I - In fact, here!" he yells almost viciously, throwing the slightly ruffled but still mostly in tact roses back into her grasp, "It's not like I have any use for them now, you know?!"

"I - what is - I can't believe - you _idiot_ –" the redhead stutters in aggravation, gripping the roses tightly in her hands, taking care not to hurt herself on the thorns.

For all of her bluster and irritation, she can't help but think that… just maybe… if this really _was_ a part of his original plan… that there might still be hope after all.

Alas, she has no time to articulate such curiosities because Ash immediately turns on his heel and walks back through the archway leading to the waiting room of her gym.

"Ah, A - Ash, where are you going?" she calls out, hoping she hasn't just set fire to a bridge she'd originally thought was more along the lines of a steel fortress.

"I'm gonna cool my head! Might as well go pick up Pikachu and my other Pokemon from the PokeCenter anyway!" the raven-haired trainer explains, still sounding a bit upset, though his face might have been a bit flushed for some other reason as well.

Ash is halfway to the Cerulean City Pokemon Center when his thoughts u-turn back onto the situation just taking place between him and one of his oldest time friends about ten minutes previous.

He can't help thinking that there are a few things that make much more sense now that he understands Drew's rose habit for what it really is… (And trust the ever-romantic Misty to know about it right away.)

Anyway, he shakes himself out of the apparently _constant_ subconscious existence of the redheaded gym trainer in his mind, it was definitely true that Drew never handed out roses to anyone but May. _Sure_ , he showed them off sometimes, but that wasn't the same thing by a long shot. And it's not like Drew didn't _respect_ any other coordinators or trainers, right? Sure, maybe the guy's ego kept him from feeling that way for as many people as he _should_ have, but from what Ash could remember, Drew definitely respected Solidad, didn't he? And she had never mentioned receiving any, er, _gifts_ from the guy!

Still, shouldn't he have been more nervous about those kinds of things? Ash didn't understand much about it (though he'd never give Misty the satisfaction of knowing that), but it made sense that… that any sort of… intimate… romantic exchange… would leave a guy pretty stressed out.

And yet Drew always seemed so cool and suave about the whole thing, as if he didn't have any cares in the world!

Ash scoffs, one hand scratching furiously at his scalp as he finally approached the PokeCenter, and he breaks from that irksome train of thought.

It's annoying to think about how much he sweated over giving _Gyarados_ flowers when Drew apparently had enough cool to survive just about anything. It's downright _infuriating_ to think of all the time he wasted wondering if he had the stones to go through with _buying flowers as a gift for someone else_ when Drew was able to carry a lifetime supply in his back pocket or… _wherever_. It's absolutely _implosive_ to acknowledge how much he had to psych himself up just to approach Misty (the surrogate flower receiver) and explain himself with a straight face and even tone of voice when Drew constantly sauntered up to May to do the exact same thing.

… Except Drew _never_ intended for it to be the exact same thing apparently.

Drew intended to give _May_ the flowers and had just used her Pokemon as an excuse.

He, _Ash_ , had planned to give Gyarados flowers… but had claimed that Misty could keep the leftovers.

Misty, the surrogate, who he'd had to encourage and motivate himself into approaching because he was so nervous about the whole thing.

Misty, who he'd incidentally given a dozen roses to just twenty minutes ago.

Misty, who'd been so flabbergasted by that token, that'd she'd been too speechless to keep him from leaving her behind while he traveled to the local PokeCenter.

Misty, the only girl he's ever even _considered_ enacting such exchanges of gratefulness with… despite the fact that he'd surely been saved or assisted by many a friend's Pokemon in the past, hasn't he?

…

…

…

Uh oh. He had a feeling he was in trouble.

 **O** o **O** o **O**

 **Notes –** And there we have it! I obviously fit in some much needed Contestshipping introspective, always a good time, but the focus was my number one OTP after all so… sorry to that ship but I just love messing with Ash too much!

Agh, anyway, comments and likes/reblogs are much appreciated (or else, on any other site, reviews and faves).

Tbh, I've been thinking about wanting to get back into Ash's Nightmare over the past couple of days… but don't get your hopes up.


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer** \- Of _course_ , I don't own anything! I'm just your average shipaholic klepto!

 **Author** \- Warlordess

 **Notes** \- Inspired by the most prominent scene reoccurring between May and Drew in the anime and back for its unplanned second installment! Lol. Let's see how much farther I can carry this plot…

 **O** o **O** o **O**

 **Title** \- "A Rose By Any Other Color" / part two

 **Summary** \- … Would not have nearly the same effect on them. Either of them. What the heck has Ash gotten himself into? Pokeshipping!

 **O** o **O** o **O**

He's fuming with bewilderment and annoyance even as he traipses into the Cerulean City Pokemon Center twenty minutes after thrusting a bouquet of roses into his best friend's unprepared arms.

He should be over this by now, he knows he should, and it's not like he'd been _aware_ of what such gestures were supposed to mean. He'd just been copying what he'd seen someone else do to show gratitude towards someone else('s Pokemon)!

But no matter how many times he tells himself it had all been innocent and well-intentioned, he knows that there's some small part of him that's suddenly expecting change… and that's the part of him that's left confused and frustrated; because he _shouldn't_ want change to take place at all, should he? He shouldn't even be _conscious_ of what that potential change was!

"Can I help you, young man?" asks the Nurse Joy standing a foot or two before him, pausing to greet him in between shuffling her paperwork around the front desk.

"Oh, uh, I dropped my Pokemon off here last night. My name's Ash Ketchum," he replies distractedly, unable to make eye contact out of sheer embarrassment over a matter that had literally nothing to do with her, he knows and internally admonishing himself over it.

"One moment, Mr. Ketchum," she nods, taking her seat once more and typing his name into the computer database. A few seconds later, she looks up again with a slightly more familiar smile, "Oh, yes, here you are! Your Pokemon have been out back playing with the others who are waiting to get picked up by their trainers! I'll go get them for you now! Just one minute, alright?"

"Yeah, thanks for your help," he says and watches her go for a second, her partner Chansey left behind to stare him down with a professionally friendly grin.

"Chansey _chaaanse_!" she croons at him with pep and he smiles but turns on his heel to take in the surrounding lobby, glancing at the four or five trainers lounging and watching television or else snacking and waiting for their own Pokemon to finish their check-ups.

And then he spots the PCs against the wall to his right, stares at them a few seconds, and begins walking purposefully over to one before he can stop himself.

The reason he'd gotten into this very mess was because he hadn't bothered checking out the detail and facts to avoid it… so it would be better to be absolutely certain, especially _now_ , right?

Thinking of Misty back at the gym with her silly dozen of roses wrapped together just so with a length of twine, he takes a seat and types _the meaning of roses_ into the search bar, clicks enter, and waits to see what will come up.

Surely there's nothing left to learn. Misty had told him just thirty minutes ago exactly what roses were supposed to mean. How can the internet's definition amount to anything different, right?

And certainly, the first thing to pop up says _'a red rose is an unmistakable expression of love_.'

Don't panic! he shouts internally, loudly clearing his throat and discreetly glancing around the lobby once more while trying to ease the onsetting flush to his neck and cheeks. Misty had said as much before… but he hadn't known about any of this so he was in the clear, wasn't he?

And, after nodding affirmatively to himself and taking a couple of deep breaths, he urges himself mentally forward and continues to read. Besides, there are plenty of different types of love!

' _Red Roses can also be used to convey respect, admiration or devotion.'_

Okay then. **Respect**. **Admiration**. That's okay to feel, right? He's been friends with Misty for years! He's come so far, from originally thinking she was a loudmouthed, scrawny nag to instead thinking she's a talented, maternal, and even somewhat mature water-type trainer. Heck, he supposes that he could even (easily) carry a bit of **devotion** with him after all the time they've known each other! After all, you couldn't stay such good friends with someone unless you went the distance, and especially when you suddenly only got to see them on rare occasions.

The bottom line is that it made sense, and it was all familiar variations of what he'd been told just earlier that same day.

' _The number of red roses has special romantic meanings associated with them.'_

… _What?!_ That can't be right, can it? Misty hadn't said anything to him about that, even when he'd admitted to planning on giving her the leftover roses! And to think, he'd only bought a dozen because it was the special recommended to him by the salesgirl (who, he could admit, had been looking a bit starry-eyed after he agreed and walked out with his purchase).

' _Twelve red roses is the most popular of all which conveys "Be mine" and "I love you".'_

… Wha…

Wha…

 _What_ _the heck does–_

"–Mr. Ketchum?" Nurse Joy interrupts from behind him with her usual cheery tone.

"Mwah!" he cries in alarm, leaping to his feet and blocking the monitor from her view. "U - uh, I mean, sorry Nurse Joy, I just… needed to check something out… real quick."

"That's fine! These computers are for trainer use after all! I just wanted to hand you back your Pokemon! Pikachu was very excited when I told him you were here to pick him up! He kept repeating something the whole way back from the playpen! Something along the lines of…" she pauses, trying to remember exactly the pronunciation, and then finishes, "… _Pikachupi_!"

"Pika… chupi?" Ash replies, biting his bottom lip hard after to hold back the smile daring to show itself. He knows what that means. Pikachu had barely gotten to see Misty since they came to town. It only made sense that he'd light up knowing that the next opportunity to do so was swiftly presenting itself.

"Yes! Well, anyway, here you go!" And the nurse holds out a tray carrying five Pokeballs for him to take while Pikachu simultaneously leaps from her shoulder to his.

"Thanks Nurse Joy, my Pokemon are always in great shape after you help them!" he tells her in gratitude as he straps them all to his belt and wishes her a great rest of her day. The ever-friendly nurse nods and smiles, bowing in thanks, and leaves him to his previous concerns… which were beginning to psychologically cripple him after his latest discovery.

"Pikapi!" his best friend chirps from his shoulder before jumping onto the desk and turning his sights on the monitor instead, "Pika kachu, Pikapi?" he asks while gesturing to it.

"U - uh, it's nothing! I was just… looking something up, you know? Always good to learn something new and I - I was… _bored_ ," he winces internally at such a lie, especially considering that's the last thing he'd been before getting his Pokemon back, but Pikachu knows no difference and just nods his head with a positive chant of his own name.

"Anyway, let's head back to the gym, yeah? You wanted to see Misty, right?" he goes on, hurdling through the next couple of sentences so as not to stumble on _that name_ and cause any serious worry.

Because he can't be worried about this now. He really can't. He didn't know. He still hadn't known even after giving Misty all of those roses that such silly _numbers_ were supposed to mean something. He's in the clear. He has no reason to panic about this.

But that doesn't keep him from doing so.

The fact that his heart has nearly stopped on three separate occasions today and his lungs have just about shriveled up from lack of oxygen (after all, each new discovery about this scenario leaves him in a state of shock and he tends to have trouble breathing when he's trying to wrap his mind around a relationship-altering piece of information, or two, or _three_ ), leaving him staggered but he reminds himself that he can't show it. Nobody can bear witness.

And, again, how was he supposed to have known?

' _Red roses can be used to convey respect, admiration or devotion.'_

It's all well and fine, or else it would be, if that was the end of it.

' _The number of red roses has special romantic meanings associated with them.'_

Numbers. It's all in the numbers… Only it really isn't. No matter what, Ash knows he's screwed simply for handing over any amount of _red_ roses because _red_ denotes romantic association.

' _Twelve red roses is the most popular of all which conveys "Be mine" and "I love you".'_

 _Stop! Leave me alone!_

"Pikapi?"

"Uh, sorry buddy, back to the gym, right?" And he only notices after Pikachu's intervention that he's stopped walking and is stalled right in the middle of Cerulean City's main street.

He wonders if he still has an acceptable out he can fall back on after this. Misty had all but agreed he could take it before when she'd refused to give Gyarados the flowers, and had even said she wouldn't keep them for herself… but then he - Ash - had forced them on her and run away.

It was all okay and fine and dandy when it was just about respect and gratitude but… but even _he_ had known from the beginning that it might not all be about that. After all, he'd already planned on Misty keeping at least _one_ of the roses. _One_ , which is a lot less incriminating than twelve, now that he knows more about the details of the matter.

Still, giving a girl even _one_ flower… it symbolized something, didn't it?

A shuddering breath escapes his throat. No. No, no; he wanted nothing at all to do with this, with _anything_.

He has never been anything even closely resembling a romantic so, no matter what his thought process, no matter his intentions o - or his expectations, surely they'd never amount to anything like that, right? Because he couldn't have known!

But Misty… Misty _was_ a romantic. She had always been one, even when they were ten years old… and, just earlier that day, she'd set him straight on other particulars relating to his folly in giving red roses out of thankfulness. She'd even warned him that they were meant to denote romantic intent.

So then why couldn't she… why hadn't she said anything about the meaning behind _twelve_ roses to begin with?

Was it simply because she didn't want to make matters worse? For instance, because she understood he hadn't meant anything romantic? Maybe it was part of the out she'd offered him… But maybe it was also because all twelve roses weren't meant to go to the same recipient? They'd mostly been for Gyarados after all. Ash had just assumed that Misty would keep one (or more) for herself. Like she'd said before, what use did a giant water dragon have for a bunch of flowers, right? It was really more the gesture that was supposed to be conveyed anyway…

Nevertheless, she could have told him _something_ … that way he could clear up any other misunderstandings, right?

Well, one thing's for certain. Ash Ketchum had only had a few plans when coming to Cerulean City. One had been to, of course, catch up with one of his oldest friends. Two had been to offer Gyarados thanks for being such a great help during the fiasco at Togepi Kingdom all that time ago. And now, three, would be to take back those roses at any cost without anymore romantic inclinations being forced on him!

 **O** o **O** o **O**

 **Notes** \- The end! Now it's a chapter fic. The third chapter will be posted… someday… hopefully soon. I'm off on Sunday so I'll think long and hard tomorrow about where I want to take this fic. I figure the next chapter will be the last but I don't know how far I want Ash's revelations and confrontations with Misty's romantic side to take him (or their relationship) so here we go.

Likes, reblogs, reviews; all commentary means a lot (no matter what site this is read on)!


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer** \- Of _course_ , I don't own anything! I'm just your average shipaholic klepto!

 **Author** \- Warlordess

 **Notes** \- Inspired by the most prominent scene reoccurring between May and Drew in the anime and back for its unplanned second installment! Lol. Let's see how much farther I can carry this plot…

 **Super big massive important note here** \- So this was one of the fics I decided to hand-write while at work since I have so much free time for the most part. Unfortunately, because I didn't have access to previous chapters and because it'd been so long since I last wrote chapters one and two, I forgot the style I was writing the fic in (present-tense, third person). I did my best to edit this so that I could finally get it posted and be done with this story and move on to other projects but I'm still concerned that I missed some stuff. So please, **if anything "reads" weird to you, let me know so I can edit it further**!

 **O** o **O** o **O**

 **Title** \- "A Rose By Any Other Color" / part three

 **Summary** \- … Would not have nearly the same effect on them. Either of them. What the heck has Ash gotten himself into? Pokeshipping!

 **O** o **O** o **O**

He's a bundle of nerves upon returning to the Cerulean City Gym, Pikachu clinging affectionately to his shoulder as Ash slinks carefully in the front door. It's now roughly 7pm so any challengers will have gone, leaving just the two of them and their host, co-gym trainer Misty Waterflower.

Of course, as soon as he acknowledges their definite privacy, Ash shakes his head rapidly, mentally slapping himself for getting psyched up all over again. He couldn't - _shouldn't_ \- think of her now, right? He has other things on his plate, he has a mission, he has to be as stealthy as possible so that he can–

He pauses mid-step after making it to the entry foyer of the living quarters of the gym, having just walked past the archway leading into the combo kitchen and dining area.

There they were. Targets confirmed.

The dozen roses he'd unabashedly thrown at the redhead only an hour or so beforehand have already been given a nice, new home, sitting just so in a glass ovalesque vase on the dining table half-filled with water and the little packet of 'plant food' that had come with them.

They look so nice and homely even that Ash feels the slightest bit guilty about what's going to happen next… but a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do, especially when miscommunication between friends about unintentional romantic connotations of gift-giving are involved.

Nevertheless, all he needs to do is strip the roses of their original commonly known theme, so he doesn't need to take them _all_ , right?

He's so close to the vase, he only has to reach out half a foot to make contact. But of course, the one thing he doesn't take into account, he's so focused on being stealthy, is how obvious his intrusion must be when he's the only welcome guest in the home, minus Misty herself.

So when the redhead calls out to him rather suspiciously from behind, he probably shouldn't come off sounding as shocked as he feels.

"What are you doing, Ash?"

"Mwah! Ah, I - I mean, uh…"

On instinct, he backs away from his target despite staring rather longingly at it, then he looks at Misty, back to the vase, to his friend, the floor…

"Nothing! I wasn't doing anything!"

"You were trying to take the roses back," she states matter-of-factly in a deadpan tone, crossing her arms and quirking an eyebrow as if daring him to deny it.

"I…"

It's downright amazing how such an accusation can leave him standing there blankly like a Stantler in the headlights. He hadn't planned any excuses, hadn't thought he'd needed to deny anything, hadn't planned on there being a witness at all. Of course, one of Ash Ketchum's greatest strengths is his ability to impulsively create solutions to his problems on the fly.

"Awe, c'mon, Myst! Just one!" he whines emphatically, gesturing in time with his statements after drawing a blank. "I don't need them _all_ back! One would work just fine!"

Oh, great. _That_ went well.

"Just… one? Ash, what is with your intense, sudden fixation on roses, huh?" the redhead begs him to answer with a huff. "I mean, it was bad enough that you decided, oh, two or three years too late that giving Gyarados flowers for helping out during the fake Togepi festival was somehow necessary and appropriate! But then, sure, let's make it an even dozen, and make sure they're long-stem red roses because nothing spells gratitude to a giant water dragon like an armful of the most _romantic_ flower in existence! Oh, but wait!" she continues ranting, apparently deciding to ignore the raven-haired trainer's flinch at her explicit use of the _'R'_ word. "No, he doesn't need them so let's pawn them off on his unsuspecting trainer! But wait again! Because somehow, stealing back _one_ rose and leaving her - _me_ ," she pauses long enough to stress, "with eleven is somehow _less_ confusing!

"So yeah, Ash, you gotta fill me in!"

"Look, I can't do that, okay? I just…" he falters in reply, stifled by the unbidden memory of the online definition he'd found for his floral foul-up while he was at the Cerulean PokeCenter less than an hour ago.

Luckily, his helplessness is interrupted by a friendly yet curious inquiry from the electric mouse on his shoulder.

"Pikapi, pika pikachu pikachupi?"

Ah, sweet relief. Sweet, unintended relief from the wrath of a girl who'd once claimed she would kindly drag his deceased carcass away from the aftermath of a lost battle.

Or so he thinks.

"Hey, Pikachu, do you mind if your dense trainer and I have a few more minutes to talk alone? We'll come get you as soon as we're done."

Drats! Foiled again!

"Pikaaa cha pikachupi!" the electric mouse responds with a chipper smile and a nod, leaping down from Ash's shoulder and scurrying through the kitchen archway and out into the hallway beyond, leaving the raven-haired trainer to feel personally betrayed.

Of course, he doesn't have much time to dwell on it since it's quite suddenly, dreadedly, just the two of them, and this time it's for real. And, before Misty can start in on him, he beats her to the punch. The only problem is that the words tumbling from his mouth aren't previously verified for safety.

"I just need one rose back so you don't think I meant anything by them!"

His statement, stupid as it is, ends up met with stark silence. Misty scrutinizes him with a raised eyebrow and pursed lips, arms crossed and fingers dancing agitatedly along her opposing limbs.

"I don't… What's that supposed to mean, Ash?"

Not willing to foul up anymore than he already has, he pauses and thinks carefully about how to phrase his next explanation.

"Look, so, after what… what happened - what you said about Drew and the roses and - and stuff… When I went to pick up my Pokemon, I got online and… And I just don't want you thinking I'm in love with you or something!"

"I… wha… Ash, why on earth would I think something like that?" the redhead asks, sighing and uncrossing her arms so she can use them to gesture exasperatedly at him for such an odd assumption.

"Well, 'cause I know how much of a romantic you are, for one, but also because the internet said so."

" _The internet said so_ …? Ash, no matter how much of a romantic I may be, that doesn't mean I'm versed in the entirety of flower language. Not to mention, I thought we already covered my low expectations when it comes to you actually knowing anything to do with love at all before you left. Even if I knew the specifications of what a difference it makes to be given a dozen red roses as opposed to something more or less, I'd never assume _you_ knew as much as I do or that you meant anything by it. I mean, you're Ash Ketchum, after all!"

"Hey, what's _that_ supposed to mean?" he shouts at her. How dare she just assume to know him, just because of their five or six year long friendship? They'd barely seen each other in the past one or two of them. The last thing she should be doing is expecting him to stay dense about things like this.

Of course, he conveniently forgets that he's just spent the past two hours leaping between seething and panicking because of how much of a romantic he's known her to be all this time.

"It means I know better! It means I know _you_! It means that, although you may do something stupid every once in awhile that confuses me, it's basically impossible for you to exceed any of my expectations for you. Especially when it comes to stuff like this!"

"Stuff like…? Well, just 'cause I'm not good with dumb, pointless stuff like flowers or romance doesn't mean I'm predictable or stupid or whatever. If this were Pokemon-related, I'd be blowing you away right now!"

Misty pauses, scowl washing over her face and eyebrows twitching, her thoughts abuzz. She can't believe this is happening, that they're fighting over this.

At the same time, she feels the edges of her heart fray a little as they dehydrate from the course their conversation has taken. All the while, she bites her tongue; all the while, she's subdued her overwhelming feelings, her hope that _something_ has changed, shifted, on Ash's end.

She'd kept calm before while he tried to convince her that red roses were given purely to express gratitude and respect, she'd held her tongue while he tried to tell her that Gyarados would somehow understand his gesture, she'd done her best to explain diplomatically what she knew that Ash didn't, she'd even withdrawn from physical retaliation when Ash - all flustered bluster - had thrown the dozen roses in her face and left her alone with barely another word.

Point is, she's carried herself quite well through the whole thing without missing a beat and the one and only thing she's sure about now is that her spoils are not going _anywhere_ , not even if it's limited to 1/12th of them.

"No, Ash, you can't have one of the roses back," she deadpans, arms crossed once more in defiance.

"Wha…? Why not?"

"Because they're mine. You forfeited ownership rights the second you threw them at me. But also, because you don't _need_ to have any number of them back. You've already explained to me that there were no romantic intentions towards me _or_ my Gyarados when you brought them into my gym and I've already explained to _you_ that I never expected anything like that from you anyway."

"B - but…" Ash begins before faltering.

The redhead has a point. As long as she knows he doesn't mean anything special by it, there's no harm in her keeping them, right? Still, some odd alarm is blaring in his head, and it's no longer really reacting to the all-consuming panic that had originally been plaguing him. Instead, now, it's about the indignation that he happens to feel every time Misty reminds him about how well she's always known him; the frustration that bubbles up in his chest when she explains about her low expectations.

It's harder figuring out why this is than anything else he's had to endure all evening. Who cares what Misty thinks about his romantic knowledge? Who cares what he knows about this stuff at all? Certainly not _him_ , right? He's too busy with Pokemon training anyway! Still though…

He worries about his own inability to let this go. He wonders about his initial plans to bring Gyarados the roses as thanks for the water-type's hard work helping them out during the fake Togepi festival in Hoenn a couple of years ago. He remembers how he'd been coerced into buying a sound dozen when he'd originally planned only to get one - which, to be honest, hadn't been that hard because he'd been feeling a guilty since his ideal plan had taken so long to be put into action…

But more than that, he remembers how he'd looked at the ornately wrapped bundle in his arms and thought that, what with so many roses, he could easily give Misty any leftovers… give them to Misty, the girl who he's known to be an intense romantic ever since they were eleven or twelve years old and she'd tried setting up those two kids in the Orange Islands… give roses to her, all the while suppressing some awkward expectation for change…

That's right. Change. He'd been on his way to the Center, fresh information about the romantic connotation of rose-giving in his mind, and he'd thought to himself that he couldn't help expecting _something_ , even if he didn't know quite what…

But he'd given Misty - a known romantic - a dozen flowers with known romantic definition, and he'd expected change of some sort.

Well, then. Maybe he knows a little more about all of this than even _he_ realized.

Now he can only ask himself what to do with this acknowledgment as he's coming down from the overwhelming shockwave.

"You know what, Myst?" he begis suddenly after a solid two minutes of mind-blowing contemplation. "You should… you should keep 'em. The… the roses. They're yours."

"Gee, _thanks_ , Ash!" she replies sarcastically on impulse despite the fluffy sensation that starts to bubble up from her core. "It's almost like the exact same thing I said to you five minutes ago!" she eyes him for any sort of noticeable reaction but he doesn't give one so she next begs the question, "What changed your mind anyway…?"

"Nothing really. Just figured some stuff out. Hey," he moves on, pausing to gulp down an exaggeratedly dry breath, "you know how you were telling me about the roses? Like why people give them, what they mean, stuff like that…?"

"Yeah…?"

"Well, I think I - I think I knew about that already. I mean, some of it. Definitely not as much as you but…"

"No, you didn't."

"I think I did."

"But you _didn't_."

"… Anyway, I've got a question for you now. Just bear with me, Myst, this is as hard for me to ask as it will be for you to answer."

"O… kay…?"

"If… if, say, I were to let you… you know, if I were… _okay_ with you thinking… No, look, if you, if _I_ were to tell you that you should accept the roses for the - uh - the _normal_ reasons someone would accept roses for, what would you say about that?"

"What would I… Ash, _what_ is going on right now?" the redhead replies after enduring through the raven-haired trainer's rather obvious struggle.

"You answer my question first!" he says, pointing at her and clearing his throat to distract himself from the feeling of his cheeks flushing a fiery red.

"If I accepted the roses for the _normal_ reasons, that would mean there was some sort of romantic intention behind them before given… by _you_ ," she explains almost as a reminder about such things, "Ash, I'm just gonna come out and ask it."

There's a brief moment of silence during which the two of them have completely different prospective questions in mind.

"You originally planned to give Gyarados the roses. I know you love Pokemon; catching, training, befriending; so I gotta know… you're not in love with my Gyarados, are you?"

"Wha…?! No! That's not what I… look, Misty, I know I said originally that the roses were for Gyarados, but I think, maybe subconsciously that they might have been for _you_. They were always for you… if that makes any sense."

She has no response to that, just standing there staring him down in disbelief, so he decides to further elaborate.

"So, like, when I had the idea for the rose, it _was_ originally for Gyarados and I _did_ get the idea from watching Drew… But when I ended up with the dozen, I figured - hey - why not give whatever's left to you? And I didn't once think how weird or awkward that might be, I didn't care that giving flowers was a commonly romantic gesture or that you were a serious sap even though it's definitely true and could easily cause more problems than it's worth. And after you told me… well, after I knew for sure what roses meant, I gave them to you anyway, remember? And when I was on my way to the Pokemon Center, as embarrassed as I was about everything, I still remember thinking how… something might change, something between us might be… different after all that. And it didn't bother me… much."

The redhead continues to stare him down even now after he's bared his soul. Ash, for his part, doesn't quite know what to do at this point. He's said his piece, not to mention that he's been as thorough and clear as possible too. There's no way that Misty doesn't understand what he's trying to say, which means that the only other possible reason for her silence is that she… doesn't feel the same way he does, right?

"Uh… sorry, I just thought… I didn't think there was any harm in trying to tell you–" he begins again as a segway into a plea for her renewed ignorance over any potential _feelings_ between them, but he's interrupted by her holding up a hand to shut him up.

"Okay, so… just so we're clear, Ash Ketchum, you're telling me that you have… feelings for me… you like me romantically… you want to… like, date me and stuff."

"Uh…"

"And you came to this conclusion naturally, right? I in no part accidentally coerced you into feeling some sort of way you don't actually feel, I didn't put any ideas into your head, I didn't force you to have some huge epiphany you weren't prepared to handle, etcetera?"

"Wha…? Misty, what makes you think that you could've–?"

"I'm just making absolute certain, Mr. Pokemon Master, before I go so far as to tell you that I feel the same."

"You… you do." It's less a question of verification and more a stunned statement. "You do?" Oh, _there_ was the question.

"Yeah, I've loved you for a few years now, you know? I just… And I knew you felt the same based on behavioral patterns and signals but I wasn't going to try and force you to see it for yourself before you were ready to accept it. I mean, talk about your giant headaches versus your epic waiting games but I had to make some kind of call so… these are the results of my toss-up, I guess."

"I'm sorry, you've been waiting _how_ long? And you're _what-_ ed me?"

"Ash, c'mon, don't get cold feet now. Not after that fantastically imperfect and overly-complicated confession. Let's not get so worked up that we start moving backwards. Just pull yourself together and ask me out to dinner."

"I… Why am I doing that?"

"Because you asked me almost twenty minutes ago what the next step would be _if_ I were going to accept the dozen roses under normal circumstances, didn't you?"

"A - and… dinner is the next step?" he asks skeptically, somehow regretting his last twenty-four hours of decision-making even as his heart pounds and hands and browline begin to sweat at the same time in true first-date-jitters fashion.

"Well, you know, _basically_. Fully detailed disclosure includes information like exclusivity between the two of us, _no Pokemon_ ; class, _no fast food_ ; atmosphere, _no family restaurants_ … Stuff like that. For someone like you, yeah… It'll take some time to understand the etiquette but don't worry. This first one will be a freebie; a learning experience. I won't hold any of the ten or so mistakes you're likely to make against you."

"Somehow I doubt that," he mutters but she still manages to hear.

"What was that?" she asks sharply with a new scowl at his latest witty quip.

"I said, hey, Misty, did you wanna join me for dinner tonight? No Pokemon; I promise."

"No Pokemon?" she repeats, equal parts hopeful and dubious.

"Just you and me," he affirms with a nod.

And she smiles brightly at him in response, heart lighter than it has been all day, and lighter still than it had been for the better part of the past few years.

"Sure, Ash, why not? Let's do it."

 **O** o **O** o **O**

 **Notes** \- So sorry for that long delay, folks! I pray that everything came out sounding okay. I have to admit, I'm not as fond of this chapter as I was when I was planning it out, and I feel like I… missed the mark on how I wanted some things to pan out, things that I'd hinted at in earlier chapters but… well… it's over and done with now and hopefully it satisfies everyone.

Like I said in my special added note at the top of the page, if it feels like something isn't reading well, please let me know so I can edit further, since I bungled up the chapter while drafting it at work.

Thanks for your patience! Please like and reblog!


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